The bond between breathing and movement

People often ask me why we breathe the way we do in Pilates and why it is important. Some people who have previously done yoga find that Pilates breathing is the opposite of what they have become accustomed to in yoga. Breath is the first and most important principle of movement in Pilates. My class attendees will know that we always begin a class thinking about our posture and focusing our breath.

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From a biological standpoint, we breathe to get oxygen into our bodies and expel carbon dioxide. Every cell in our body needs oxygen to function and the only way for this to happen is through breathing. Joseph Pilates referred to breath as our ‘internal shower … cleansing our system from accumulated debris created by fatigue’.

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So, what happens when we breathe? There are two mechanisms that our bodies use to get our breath in and out of our lungs.

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Firstly, there is our diaphragm, a large dome-shaped muscle that separates the thoracic and abdominal parts of our torso. When it contracts and flattens, it creates a negative pressure in the lungs which draws breath in. As it pushes down, it causes the tummy to distend, which is why this is often referred to as belly breathing. Then, when the diaphragm relaxes back into its original dome shape, it increases the pressure in our lungs, which pushes the breath out.

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Secondly, we can move the rib cage, which comprises 12 ribs, to breathe. When the external intercostal muscles between the ribs contract, the front-to-back diameter of the upper six ribs decreases, as does the side-to-side dimension of the lower six ribs. Thus, to breathe out, the internal intercostal muscles—along with the abdominal muscles—contract to decrease the space inside the rib cage, effectively ‘funnelling’ the ribs down to push the breath out.

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We also have ‘accessory’ muscles (the sternocleidomastoid and scalenes) which attach the ribcage to the neck. These muscles lift the ribcage, bringing our shoulders up to our ears. ‘Accessory’ breathing is often seen in people with poor posture, in smokers and in those with lung disease. It is not an efficient way to breathe, but can be used to augment the actions of other muscles when we highly exert ourselves, such as running for the bus for example. Habitual users of these muscles can suffer neck problems and arm pain.

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So to get back to why breathing is important in Pilates, there are actually two reasons: facilitating movement; and stabilisation of the spine.

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Breath facilitating movement is a fundamental concept within Pilates. When we breathe in deeply we extend our upper back and, conversely, flex our upper back when we breath out. For an exercise such as ‘prone press’ where I want the focus to be on achieving more upper back extension, I will cue to breathe in as we lift and breathe out as we lower. With a ‘chest lift’ or ‘roll up’ I will cue to breathe out as we lift our heads and chests to facilitate more rounding of the back to enhance your ability to curl or roll up. With ‘openings’ the breath in will likewise facilitate more thoracic and rib rotation as we reach up and over with the top arm.

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As mentioned, breath is also a facilitator of stabilisation of the spine. The deep tummy muscles (the transverse abdominal muscle) and pelvic floor muscles work with our diaphragm to maintain the intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) which supports and protects the lower back. When doing an activity where we need greater stability in the lower back—for example when our arms or legs are moving away from our body (see photo)—we achieve optimum stability on the breath out when we can engage the abdominal muscles more.

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Breath is a tool and not a rule, and can be changed to alter the focus of an exercise to make it easier or more challenging. In yoga, breath is mostly used to facilitate movement or relaxation.

As a final thought to leave you with, it is impossible to breathe optimally if we have poor posture. Try slouching and taking a really deep breath; now straighten up and try again. You will find you are able to breathe in a greater volume of air, allowing more oxygen into your body and expelling more carbon dioxide.

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Imagine how less efficient our breathing would be if we habitually were to have a poor posture, if the rib cage and upper back became stiff and rigid, if our diaphragm could not descend as far and if we were restricted to only using the upper part of our lungs.

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Pilates helps us utilise the whole of our lungs for breathing. Breath facilitates movement and movement facilitates breath.

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